Not trying to start anything because I really thought the Irish would have a little better year. The Irish will have to win 2 of there last 3 games to become eligible. I don't think it will happen, but I hope it does because college football needs Notre Dame back.

Remaining Schedule:
vs 8 Utah
vs Army @ Yankee Stadium
@ USC

At this point, Utah will own the Irish and despite USC stinking, I don't see how Notre Dame is going to stop USC. USC might allow ND to score 30+, but the Trojans are still capable of hanging 40+ on the Irish. Add to that, even Army is capable of beating ND.

No bowl game for the Irish this year.

Absolutely not. We have a freshmen qb in after the Crist injury, our veteran running back is out for the year, our all-american tight end is done, as is our second leading receiver and our most consistent defensive player in Ian Williams. Add in Carlo Calebrese and a few other injuries, plus the fact that Utah and USC have a lot of talent and I don't see it happening.

Allen is out for the year? Fuuuuuck.

No way ND puts up 30+ on USC w/o Crist.

They beat Army, but that's it.

Backup quarterback, backup running back, backup tight end, back up slot receiver, back up wide receiver on offense. Back up middle linebacker, backup nose guard, on defense.

2007 anyone? RS Freshmen/Freshmen starting at QB, RB, WR, WR. Michael Floyd and a bunch of back ups won't beat two top teams in Utah and Southern Cal.

Still though, there is plenty to be happy about. Notre Dame still managed to put up 26 first downs and ~460 yards of offense with their JV offense. Couple that with what happened against Michigan, and it's clear as day how much better Kelly's players get under his tutelage. After Michigan we thought if Notre Dame lost Crist they wouldn't be able to score a touchdown the rest of the year.

I personally loved seeing a spread quarterback at the helm, his style of play actually fit Kelly's offense better than Crist's style of play. It was exciting to see this true freshman check to different receivers, how many times did Crist stare down one receiver and get the ball intercepted or nearly intercepted? (That said Rees did stare down Floyd on that last play... ) I am wondering, if Rees looks much more natural with this offense than Crist, how good is Hendrix? Kelly and Co. rave about him, and are keeping him on the sideline to learn for a season like any NFL franchise would do with their rookie franchise quarterback.

A returned blocked kick for two points, a punt return for a touchdown, and an interception return for a touchdown. Notre Dame's mistakes gave them 16 of their 28 points. Do you know what that means gentlemen? The defense only let up twelve. Twelve points to an offensively potent team. I'm not upset with how the defense played at all, Diaco's life is not longer being threatened in my apartment. We will see against Utah how this team does in the middle without Williams, he was a stud and it's tough to lose a NG when you run a 3-4.

As for the last play, yeah I'm upset about it. But I sorta figured after they hit comeback after comeback all game with Floyd that they were setting up a deep ball to Floyd. It was man coverage. 6'3 All-American Floyd vs. 5'10 Tulsa corner, not an idiotic play as I first thought. Would I call it? Hell no. But if Rees' ball is one foot higher it's not an interception, if it's eighteen inches higher Michael Floyd snags it for a touchdown. Kelly has already said "get used to it," so I would advise you to do so. The advantage was there and he went for it, it is what it is.

I guess I'm not too upset because this season has officially become Notre Dame's JV prepping for future starts; the season is a wash and it wouldn't be advisable to do anything else but watch all of the learning going on and be excited about that. Weis' teams never got better as the season went along; Weis' backups were never developed and often ignored.

Without Rudolph the offense went from inconsistently good to above average. Without Riddick it went to average. Without Allen it went to below average. Without Crist it is now a high school squad, just watch the development Notre Dame fans and be happy Notre Dame has a veteran coach running the program and not an NFL play-caller running the team, because things will get better...."it's just how the game works."

There goes those 15 practices....like that would have helped.

No.

Why does college football need ND? They haven't won a meaningful game in 20 years and it looks like college football is doing just fine without them.

sleeper;539527 wrote:Why does college football need ND? They haven't won a meaningful game in 20 years and it looks like college football is doing just fine without them.

Why do you continue to post on these threads? You haven't had a meaningful post in about the same time frame.

I was asking a simple question. What does ND bring to college football besides mediocrity?

Nothing. So please avoid talking about mediocre teams in the future.

"not an idiotic play as I first thought. "

Completely disagree, there are so many things that can go wrong in a pass play in that situation, there's no need to even think of throwing. I don't care if you have Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens as receivers against a HS defense. Kick the FG and win the game.

I was referring to the design of the play. At first, I thought it was "hey let's throw it up to Floyd in double coverage and see what happens." It was more like "Hey we've got this corner biting comebacks, we'll hit it deep and it'll be open." It was, and it is what it is. Kelly rolls the dice and we should just get used to it. Would I have called it? No. Not in a million years. But I just won't get on him over this one play, I'll go gray.

Kelly has had a rough two weeks, looked like shit against Navy, is probably culpable for Sullivan's death, and lost his starting quarterback. He may lose millions and his franchise quarterback as a result. Will the Hendrix era begin in 2011? I wasn't hoping it would be another installation year.

Manhattan Buckeye;539627 wrote:"not an idiotic play as I first thought. "

Completely disagree, there are so many things that can go wrong in a pass play in that situation, there's no need to even think of throwing. I don't care if you have Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens as receivers against a HS defense. Kick the FG and win the game.

There were 30 mph gusts, and a kick was blocked earlier in the game. There is no way you can consider the FG a gimmee. ND was moving the ball at will during the 2nd half and in that drive. There was plenty of time left in the game and I have no problem with the aggressiveness and trying to score a td to win. Do I like the pass/play call? No, but just sitting on the ball and hoping for a FG definitely wasn't a guarantee either.

To answer the question to the thread - no.

Let's hope not.

Kelly made that call becuz he was damned if he was gonna let the wind screw him over again last week.

As soon as they showed the kicker warming up, with the stat that said he hadn't missed one all year...I knew it was a foregone conclusion that he was going to miss that kick if given the chance. It's just how the season is going for the Irish this year. I even called my friend and said that I hope Kelly goes for the endzone...because that kick was not going to go through if it came down to it. I'm not that upset with the call because I really honestly truly believe that he was missing that kick.

As for the original question...unless there is some sort of miracle...ND is finishing this season with 5 wins. It would take a whole hell of a lot to beat Utah or USC, and after what I've seen this year, I can't even say that the Army game is a guaranteed win (although it should be...even with just about every scholarship athlete on the sideline for the Irish).

It's highly unlikely that they win 2 of the next 3. But stranger things have happened.

They lose to Utah and SC for sure and even Army will give them a tough go. So, No they will not be bowl eligible this season.

sherm03;540822 wrote:As soon as they showed the kicker warming up, with the stat that said he hadn't missed one all year...I knew it was a foregone conclusion that he was going to miss that kick if given the chance. It's just how the season is going for the Irish this year. I even called my friend and said that I hope Kelly goes for the endzone...because that kick was not going to go through if it came down to it. I'm not that upset with the call because I really honestly truly believe that he was missing that kick.

As for the original question...unless there is some sort of miracle...ND is finishing this season with 5 wins. It would take a whole hell of a lot to beat Utah or USC, and after what I've seen this year, I can't even say that the Army game is a guaranteed win (although it should be...even with just about every scholarship athlete on the sideline for the Irish).

It's highly unlikely that they win 2 of the next 3. But stranger things have happened.

Sherm you are the man. Took the words out of my mouth. I looked over to my buddies down for Halloween and just said "I have a terrible feeling about this kick. Oooh man." Then the interception. To me, it's just as much a case of a coach being aggressive and not getting it and getting the "YOU IDIOT!" side instead of "WOW GENIUS!!" side. If that's a touchdown, who knows, maybe Notre Dame gives him a ten-year contract extension.

I can't possibly see them beating Utah or USC. I think that if the SC game was in South Bend then it would be closer, bu the Trojans still would win. With all of the injuries the Irish have sustained this season I think the Army game isn't even a given at this point. This year I think that ND would have definitely accepted a bowl invite at 6-6 unlike last year because they will have the same coach next year and it's obvious that this team could use the extra practice.